Credit card firms try end run around new federal rules

 Collateral Damage, Coming Social Unrest, Credit Card Debt, Creditors Caveat  No Responses »
Jul 102009
 

Banks are quietly changing the terms of millions of credit card accounts as they brace for a tough new law that will limit rate hikes.

The law would restrict interest rate increases unless a credit card has a variable rate. So at least two major lenders are switching their cards with fixed rates to — you guessed it — variable rates.

“It’s completely unfair,” said Linda Sherry, a spokeswoman for Consumer Action. “It’s an end run around the intent of the new law.”

That law is the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which President Obama affixed with his signature in May. Its various provisions will be phased in between next month and February.

Congress passed the law to curb what politicians called abuses of cardholders by lenders, including runaway interest rates and constantly changing terms.

Credit Card Firms Try End Run Around New Federal Rules – LA Times

Posted by Brian Schuettler at 10:25 am  

One-Third of Americans Say They Have Decreased Their Debt

 Deleveraging  No Responses »
Jul 102009
 

PRINCETON, NJ — In a new Gallup Poll, 44% of all Americans say they intend to reduce their overall debt over the next six months, with 60% of upper-income consumers planning to do so, compared to 50% of those having middle incomes and 38% with lower incomes.

Upper-Income Consumers Most Inclined to Trim Debt – D. Jacobe, Gallup

Posted by Brian Schuettler at 10:22 am  

We’ve Wiped Out All The New Jobs Of The 21st Century

 A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, A State of Distress, Back to the basics, Coming Social Unrest, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Our phony middle class, PANDEMIC, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The New American Socialism  No Responses »
Jul 102009
 

What’s the best way to express just how bad the job market is? You could look at the soaring unemployment rate, or perhaps the ever-shortening work week. How about this: Total nonfarm payrolls, notes economist James Hamilton, are now back to where they were in mid 2000, and in a few months they’ll certainly be back to pre-2000 levels. 21st century job creation: gone.

All Jobs Created in the 21st Century Are Now Gone – Clusterstock

Posted by Brian Schuettler at 10:18 am  
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